The river is gentle and flows slowly towards the Yangtze River. In autumn, rain is scarce, and the Sanjiang River, which flows rapidly in spring and summer, is now gentler and gentler.

Ma Wanchun, who had just returned to his hometown in the name of Shizhu County Order, was wearing a neat narrow-sleeved official uniform and leading a group of soldiers of the Ma family to inspect the south bank of Sanjiang River.

Perhaps the heavens can't bear to see the Sichuan people who have been made difficult to survive by the Mingshun War for many years suffer from natural disasters again, but since the beginning of summer this year, the wind and rain here in Sichuan have been quite smooth. In the summer, there were not a few rainstorms, and in the autumn, there were not many days of dry and rainless, although the effects of the Xiaoice period have not passed, and the rainfall throughout the year is still low. However, the impact on agricultural production is not too great, especially after the introduction of sweet potatoes and potatoes from the New World, the terraced fields on the slopes on both sides of the Sanjiang River have fed tens of thousands of Shizhu farmers - the rice planted in the paddy fields under the mountain is to be supplied to the government soldiers and the Dashun court, and the farmers here in Shizhu have not eaten rice for several years! Their daily food, in addition to sweet potatoes and potatoes, is China's native taro.

Although the stone pillar was swept away by the war not long ago, it is still not very stable until now, and in the nearby mountains, there are still some remnants of the Dashun soldiers entrenched - because the fall of the stone pillar was too fast, the local government soldiers had no time to retreat, so they had to fall into the grass in the surrounding mountains!

In fact, going up the hill and falling into the grass when the enemy raided and occupied the stone pillar has always been one of the contingency plans of the stone pillar folding and rushing to the province!

Because the stone pillar is on the front line, it is also sandwiched between Zunyi Mansion and Shizhou Wei, and the Daming Xichuan Festival that settled in Zunyi Mansion makes Ma Wannian a door or a stone pillar toast of hundreds of years, and he can also go back and forth in the mountains and rivers around the stone pillar with his eyes closed.

Therefore, Dashun's Shizhu Zhichong Mansion also had to plan for the worst - Shizhu City may be raided and captured by the Ma family's soldiers! In this case, the local government soldiers of Shizhu should immediately move to the Dafeng Fort in the nearby mountains, defend the mountain danger, resist the remnants of the Ming, and wait for the Dashun Heavenly Soldiers to return to help......

But contrary to the expectations of the soldiers on the side of the stone pillar, the current situation is even worse than the worst they expected!

When the Ming army came, they moved to the Great Wind Fort in the Qiyao Mountains in time, and brought a large amount of food and materials, and the Great Wind Fort also had the food and materials accumulated over the years, which was enough for them to hold out for a year and a half.

But the Great Shun Heavenly Soldiers won't come back...... The whole of Sichuan is changing!

However, these soldiers who went to the Great Wind Fort made Ma Wanchun very big. Dafeng Fort is in the Qiyao Mountain, the mountain is high and the road is dangerous, and the surrounding area is continuous mountains and forests. The Ma family didn't know how much effort it had expended, and it was not completely wiped out. Later, he was recruited by the Dashun Imperial Court, and it seems that he was sent to the place bordering Sichuan and Wusizang to be soldiers...... The vacated Gale Fort fell into the hands of the Shizhu Zhichong Mansion, and then it was built year by year, and the cottages where the soldiers hoarded grain and the passes that guarded the mountain roads were constantly built.

Even Ma Wanchun, a county commander who knew the terrain around the stone pillar well, didn't know how to exterminate them for a while?

So what he can do now is to take a group of family members (actually soldiers of the Xichuan Army) to constantly patrol around Shizhu City to calm people's hearts.

However, the soldiers of Dashun Mansion on Dafeng Fort did not give him face at all as a stone pillar parent, and from time to time they sent a small group of men and horses down the mountain to burn and loot to create panic, but they did not fight with Ma Wanchun's subordinates, but slipped away after the battle.

Ma Wanchun, who was helpless by the soldiers and thieves on the Gale Castle, had no choice but to ask for help from the Xichuan Jiedu Envoy and the Dongchuan Jiedu Envoy who had just been formed.

But the emergency document has been sent out for many days, and I don't know where the shadow of the reinforcements is?

He stopped on a high slope and looked thoughtfully at the busy scene of farmers harvesting rice, sweet potatoes, taro, and potatoes on the hill with his hands behind his back.

A middle-aged military attache of the Xichuan Army went up the mountain out of breath at this time, leaned over to him, and said in a low voice: "County Zun, there is a young man who claims to be Zhu Yun, a fellow of Shizhu County, who came from the direction of Fengdu with hundreds of horses, and he is almost in the county seat!" ”

"What?" Ma Wanchun was stunned, "Do you know the same thing?" Our stone pillar is so palm-sized territory, there are not many people in total, and we still need to know the same? He thought for a moment and asked, "Really?" It can't be a thief in the windy castle, right? ”

The middle-aged military attache shook his head: "It doesn't look like ...... Hundreds of black-clad soldiers came with him, all of them riding folded horses and carrying flintlock pistols, and it could not be the upper class of Fort Gale. ”

"Everybody rides folded horses and carries flintlock pistols?" Ma Wanchun was stunned, "It is impossible for the rogues on the Gale Fort to have such good horses and guns, but the rogues elsewhere also have flintlock pistols and folded ear horses...... Wasn't Shang Kexi's father and son planted in the hands of a rogue who rode a folded ear horse? ”

As soon as the county respected said that the lower official also remembered...... "The middle-aged military attache also became nervous, "County Zun, hurry up and go back to the city with the lower official to prepare for the war!" ”

Ma Wanchun nodded, then waved his hand, raised his voice and shouted: "Brothers, close the team and go back to Shizhu City!" ”

Those who arrived in Shizhu with the text of Zhu Yun, the same knowledge of Shizhu County, arrived in Shizhu, of course, it was the good luck of the prince Zhu He. He could not take office in the name of the crown prince, firstly, for his own safety; The second is so as not to frighten the local officials of the stone pillar.

The prince's name is too big, what can I do if I frighten people?

Of course, Emperor Zhu was still quite concerned about the safety of the crown prince and the crown princess, and while not letting them reveal their identities, he also dispatched a battalion of guards to escort him and Ding Yuying to their posts.

They left Yiling Prefecture in mid-August and headed west, crossed the Three Gorges by land, boarded a boat in Yunyang, traveled west to Fengdu, and then traveled east along Sanjiangxi to Shizhu.

Accompanying them on the move was Xia Wanchun, the deputy chief of staff of the Dongchuan Jiedu Envoy - of course he knew Prince Zhu, and he was a little crying and laughing at Emperor Zhu's arrangement, but he was a soldier and had to obey orders.

He also knew Ma Wanchun, because he had served as an instructor in the Xichuan Army and was responsible for training the new army of the Xichuan Army, so he knew the Ma brothers, which was also the reason why Dongchuan Jiedu made Wang Zhou to escort Prince Zhu to his post.

However, in order to hide people's eyes, Xia Wanchun did not reveal his identity to the Xichuan military outpost stationed in Shizhu, so he ate with Zhu Hexing and Ding Yuying outside Shizhu City!

Seeing that the gate of Shizhu City was closed, Xia Wanchun had no choice but to step forward, went to the city gate, and opened his voice and shouted: "Ma Wanchun Ma Zhi County, I am Xia Wanchun, deputy chief of the Dongchuan Jiedu Envoy Division...... Hurry up and open the door for Lao Tzu! ”

What the? Xia Wanchun, deputy chief of staff of the Dongchuan Jiedu Envoy Division!

Ma Wanchun, who was observing the "enemy situation" at the head of Shizhu City with a group of loaded guns and live ammunition, felt familiar when he saw Xia Wanchun in a red robe, and now when he heard him shout, he hurriedly picked up a telescope to take a closer look, and at a glance, it was indeed Xia Wanchun!

Ma Wanchun was still a little skeptical, "Xia joined the army, why are you here?" You brought those black-clad soldiers with you, too? Which part of them are? ”

Xia Wanchun said: "This official was ordered by Wang Jieshuai to check the enemy's situation, didn't you report that there are rogues in Gale Castle?" Those black-clothed soldiers are all guards, and they came with Zhu Tongzhi! ”

A few hundred Guardsmen? I must have come to suppress the bandits! This time, the rogues on the Castle of the Great Wind are finally going to be unlucky!

Ma Wanchun no longer doubted it now, and hurriedly ordered the city gate to be opened, and then took his men out of the city. Zhu Hexing and Ding Yuying also took hundreds of guards on horseback to the gate of the city, and both of them mounted their horses and walked side by side, arriving at Xia Wanchun's side.

When Ma Wanchun saw the two of them, he was a little stupid again, who are these two children? Is it Xia Wanchun's son and daughter? What about Zhu Tongzhi?

Xia Wanchun pointed at Zhu Hexing at this time and said, "This is your Zhu Tongzhi from Shizhu County!" ”

Ma Wanchun looked at the young Zhu Hexing, who was a little unspeakable, and was stunned and stunned, what is going on? This kid is actually a fellow acquaintance of Shizhu County...... What a joke! What does a little kid know? How can you be a homogeneous acquaintance?